My boyfriend and I have been married for two years and love our lives together, but we're ready to take the plunge into pregnancy and parenthood.

I’m working at a job that I'm not crazy about, but the reason I've been content to stick with this company is that the owners have said they have no problem with me bringing a baby into the office when the time comes. "Awesome," I thought. "Babies don't do anything for the first year anyway so I can totally just work at my desk with my baby in a sling. I'll be able to hold them close and earn some extra cash at the same time." It seemed like a pretty good deal so I've endured.  But then last week, I had an epiphany that totally turned me around.

My husband and I got home from work and I tried to throw together some dinner amid the mess in the kitchen that I hadn't had time to clean.  He tried to make a dent in the pile of clean laundry that had slowly taken over our living room.  It then hit me -- I don't want to live like this when we have a baby!

Having a new baby will be hard enough; I don't want to add to that the stress of household chores which I know I simply don't have time for when I work. I want to have a healthy dinner ready when my husband gets home instead of rushing to put something on the table because we're both so hungry after a long day. And, most of all, if I want to just sit and stare at my beautiful baby all day long, I want to be able to do that. I shared this epiphany with my husband and he just smiled in such a way that made it clear he's been quietly and patiently waiting for me to come to this realization.

My mother was a stay-at-home mom despite many years of economic trials.  I always took for granted that the man I married would allow me to do the same.  But that night, my husband reminded me that my desire to stay home with our children was one of the things he was most attracted to when we met and that I need not worry about bringing in extra cash after our children come. I know he will do whatever it takes to care for us and who am I to deny him the pleasure and pride of supporting a family on his own? Is there any better way to respect his manhood? I know his wanting me to stay home is his way of respecting and revering my role as a woman and mother. I am so grateful to have married "one of the good ones" and (now that I've got my head on straight again) I am so excited at the prospect of growing our little family.

Thanks for supporting stay-at-home moms. As the daughter of a pretty great one, I have to say THEY ROCK!